Messages

I'm looking for a decent UK-based hosting company for a site in development. I know there are a few boarders who've got their own sites, and I'd appreciate any suggestions you've got.

I'm looking for decent uptime, relatively low cost and good email setup. The initial site will likely be under 10MB, but I'd like the option to expand in the future without too much hassle. Support for PHP, MSSQL or MySQL and custom CGI scripts is a must.

If you'd prefer not to reply on the board (I don't know what policy on this is, sorry Wake) drop me a line at:

shoacmail@yahoo.com.au

Cheers!

Amen, PVS. I can see the point in upping the price of *rare* comics, where you can make a fairly convincing case that the age, or scarcity of a comic means it should be worth more. When it comes to something like 2000AD - a comparatively new comics which, at the height of it's popularity had a circulation in the region of 100,000 - I can't see how anyone can possibly justify the prices some issues go for.

BTW - what *really* irks me right now is the appearance on eBay of current comics - still available in nearly any decent comic store - at *higher* than shelf prices!

"I've 'ad a feurquing good 'urlyday!"

I can see this being a source of great amusement chez Blackblood :-)

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy myself with a curple of nyurd weemens...

Pretty sure he didn't - though there might have been something in the Fort Neuro story. Maybe someone with a better memory (or access to their progs :-)) can correct me?

Thanks guys - how do you find these stores when it comes to getting hold of new releases? Are they relatively quick at getting comics that are just shipping?

Can someone recommend a good mail-order vendor in the UK? I'm currently dealing with Forbidden Planet, but I'm not entirely happy with their service.

Any ideas?

"Oh, and Titan are releasing a hardback version of 'The Complete Halo Jones'"

YES! Thank-you Titan - now get cracking with that second volume of Nemesis the Warlock...

Dunno about that - I thought Duncan Fegredo's art for the first B&K cover was pretty good.

...Oh, and speaking of good covers: Jock, if you're reading this - fucking excellent cover for Losers #6 :-)

"Leviathan has been a *great* read so far and doesn't need this character nicking business, nor does it make sense. Why put late 20th Century TV icons into an early 20th Century ship? I'd rather this story was just about an incredible ship, adrift in fantastic circumstances with a insidious murder mystery at it's heart, than a parody of late 20th century TV. I don't honestly understand why it's been done, can someone please explain?"

I have no idea, but it's beginning to grate. I had the same problem with Scarlet Traces - a single cameo is amusing, but at the moment it just makes the strip feel like a poor man's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Why the out-of-place characters? Couldn't be bothered to do research and drop in some appropriate figures? Going for some "ironic" humour? Taking the cheap route for character-building (looks-like-Frost = The Grumpy But Noble Detective)?

I'm buggered if I know, but it's a blemish on what is otherwise a fine strip.

"Lets not forget Kev's recent teaming up with Pat on Nemesis Book X, not his greatest moment, completetly outdrawn by Henry Flint"

All of Kev O'Neill's recent work for 2000AD has been pretty poor - the last strip he turned out (a single page for the Tharg story in the anniversary issue) looked like a pencilled rough.

"Well, y'know, if Mills remembered how to write properly..."

Tut-tut Arthur... you know you should have at least two pages of expository dialogue before trying to move the conversation on like that ;-)

"Smile... SMILE!"

> Shakara

Yep

> Scarlet Traces

No - liked it, but I'd prefer to see new material from D'Israeli & Ian Edgington (rather Leviathan and Xtnct than a Scarlet Traces 2)

> 13

Nope. It burnt out badly at the end, and I really can't be bothered with any more mockney nonsense at the moment. I would like to see more from Andy Clarke though.

> Download Tales

12 months ago I would possibly have said yes, but Sin/Dex has completely turned me off anything to do with Downlode.

> Mazeworld (i know Cadmans dead but i loved the story

Not quite what you were meaning, but I'd like to see another Ransom/Grant teamup. They seem to click perfectly, and I'd love to see something new from the team.
 
> Red Razors

God no! Better dead & buried and part of 2000AD history.
 
> Cannon Fodder

Hmmm... not sure. I'd love to see Chris Weston back (and if the mutterings about a new John Smith/Chris Weston tale are true, please guys - consider publishing in 2000AD) but I'm not as sure about Canon Fodder. Convince me ;-)

> Vector 13

Nope. Not a chance. It clung to the coat-tails of the X-Files and seriously outstayed its welcome. I'd rather see some more effort and thought put into a fresh series of one-offs. Terror Tales was promising but was never developed properly - give it a bit of oomph and it could be a Tooth version of the old EC tales; Future Shocks is still a strong idea, but there needs to be *far* more disgression re: what gets in. I'd rather see more of these strips than any of the conspiracy-monkey nonsense in V13.

Anyway, my vote for a reappearance goes to (drumroll...)

Sancho Panzer!

You could try:

www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com

Generally has a good selection of reviews, news & features (Fool Brittania being one of the better ones, IMO, especially for a look at Brit comics).

www.sequentialtart.com

News, reviews and features. Written by a group of female comic fans, and definitely one of the more interesting looks at the comics industry.

There are more, but these two are regular visits for me. Comic Book Resources (www.comicbookresources.com) is another regular, but mainly for their plaintext copies of Previews.

Cultural impact, I'll grant you - and you can assign some historical importance to the original Friday 13th, but I see nothing worthwhile in any of the subsequent installments. "Disposable eighties horror" sums them up perfectly.

"Classic" is a bit further than I'd be prepared to go for Nightmare. It's a supercharged, nasty and thoroughly enjoyable picture - and it gave us a fantastic bogeyman in  Freddie - but it's not quite there (for me, at least).

As for New Nightmare... it certainly surpasses Scream (vastly overrated, IMO) but it's not a patch on the original.

Jason X? Urgh. I'll give it credit for trying something new, but that's about all I'll say for it. Utterly dismal.

Here's hoping that the film bombs and takes the muppets responsible with it. Nightmare... was an entertaining, amusing horror flick that got shat over by subsequent episodes. Friday 13th took everything that Halloween did so well & completely ignored it.
If it takes one last shite installment to kill them both off for good, so be it...